Chelsea transfer news: Strasbourg 'make breakthrough' to sign prospect for £6.5m

Chelsea have reportedly agreed to send another of their prospects to Strasbourg, this time on a permanent basis.

While the Blues are currently in the process of generating funds through the sales of their unwanted players, it is no secret that they are conducting business with fellow BlueCo-owned club Strasbourg.

Despite being owned by the same people, the French side are able to loan three Chelsea players, goalkeeper Mike Penders expected to be followed by defender Mamadou Sarr and playmaker Kendry Paez.

Nevertheless, Chelsea have already given the green light to permanent transfers, midfielder Mathis Amougou having moved to Strasbourg despite having only signed for Chelsea in February.

According to football.london, the West Londoners will now be selling Ishe Samuels-Smith to last season's seventh-placed finishers in Ligue 1.

What are Strasbourg paying for Samuels-Smith?

In 2023, the left-sided defender left Everton to link up with Chelsea's academy ranks and he has gone on to make 52 appearances for the Under-18s and Under-21s.

However, despite featuring in a number of first-team squads, the 19-year-old is yet to make his senior debut for the world champions.

Rather than promote him to backup behind Marc Cucurella, Chelsea are on the brink of signing Jorrel Hato from Ajax, who will effectively push Samuels-Smith down the pecking order.

As a result, personal terms have been agreed with Strasbourg, who are allegedly paying in the region of £6.5m to get a deal over the line.

That will represent a profit on the alleged £4m fee that was shelled out to Everton two years ago.

Samuels-Smith will now fly to France to finalise a move to Stade de la Meinau, his ambition being to break into a squad that will be aiming to have a deep run in the Conference League.

A Chelsea audition?

Any player who lines up for Strasbourg knows that making an impact for Strasbourg could lead to a switch to Chelsea at some point.

That is likely to be on Samuels-Smith's mind as he competes with the likes of Diego Moreira for the left-back spot.

Moreira left Chelsea on a free transfer and has since developed into a player that Strasbourg value in excess of £20m having chipped in with two goals and seven assists in 32 Ligue 1 fixtures during 2024-25.

Having never made a senior appearance in his career, Samuels-Smith's first priority will be earning first-team minutes on a regular basis.